SAL1 Lexington Legends

Legends Win 7-4 After Building Early Lead

Published on July 14, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Lexington Legends News Release


The Lexington Legends jumped out to a 6-0 lead and went on to beat the Hickory Crawdads 7-4 in the opener of a five-game series Wednesday night at Applebee's Park.

The Legends scored twice in the first inning. Jose Altuve led off with a single and stole second. With one out, J.D. Martinez walked. Altuve went to third on a ground ball hit by Jonathan Meyer, and scored when shortstop Edwin Garcia's throw to first was wide for an error. Aaron Bray followed with a single to score Martinez with the second run.

Martinez hit a solo homer with one out in the third to give Lexington a 3-0 lead. It was his 15th home run of the year, putting him one behind league leader Justin Bass of Greensboro. Martinez, who had two hits and two RBI in the game, has 64 RBI, second in the league behind teammate Kody Hinze, who has 68. Martinez leads the league with a batting average of .359.

The Legends added three more runs in the fourth inning for a 6-0 margin. Jiovanni Mier led off with a double and went to third on an infield out. After Jordan Comadena was hit by a pitch, Altuve singled, scoring Mier and sending Comadena to second. Renzo Tello flied out for the second out, but Martinez singled to score Comadena, making the score 5-0. Altuve came home when first baseman Mike Ortiz was unable to hang on to the throw to first following Jake Goebbert's ground ball to second.

Cody Podraza's solo homer put Hickory on the board in the seventh, but the Legends countered with a run in the bottom half of the seventh when Meyer doubled and Bray singled.

Hickory cut the lead to 7-3 in the eighth on a two-run double by Cristian Santana.

In the ninth, the Crawdads loaded the bases with one out on singles by Edwin Garcia, Travis Adair and Jared Prince. A run scored on Pimentel's sacrifice fly, but Kirk Clark retired Zach Zaneski on a ground ball to short to end the game. Clark earned his 20th save, tops in the South Atlantic League and one short of the Legends single-season and career mark set by Daniel Freeman in 2003.

Lexington starter Juan Minaya (4-8) was the winning pitcher. Matt Thompson (6-7) was the starter and loser for Hickory.

The series continues Thursday night at Applebee's Park. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Check out the Lexington Legends Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 14, 2010


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